GM has given the BID a hard time in the past about its website. For the $30,000 it has budgeted for the website, it lacks a good deal of sparkle. In fact, GM has heard it unfavorably compared to one of those fake websites domain name-squatters set up. That’s a bit harsh, but compared with Alexandria’s site, well, there is no comparison:

Whereas the Alexandria website does a fantastic job communicating the shopping and hotels, it also conveys a sense of the neighborhood’s history. The Georgetown BID’s site does not do nearly as good a job communicating the shopping and hotels, etc., as Alexandria and it conveys all the historic sense of place of an outlet mall.

So given that background, GM was thrilled to see the BID adopted a fantastic brand for the Merriment in Georgetown ad campaign. GM has now noticed that the BID has continued to use this brand to drive shopping to Georgetown through the holiday season. The banner at the top of this post has appeared on various websites “around town” so to speak. It’s a great look for Georgetown and GM hopes it is just the beginning of a new approach to branding from the BID.

And here’s another idea: if the BID really goes ahead and restores the Georgetown Theater sign, they ought to create a new website design around that icon.